Our young adult group, Vessels, is a space where all are welcome, whatever their story. For Kagen, who is on the Vessels leadership team, the desire to make others feel welcome comes out of his own early struggles to belong.
Kagen grew up feeling like he didn’t fit in anywhere because of his autism diagnosis. “I had a hard time loving the way I was and remembering the value God gave me. When I was young, I didn’t know how to connect or make friends, so I often isolated myself. I was afraid I wasn’t good enough, so I struggled with anger issues and was really competitive, because I was trying to prove myself.”
Healing began in a big way when Kagen joined Echo, Woodland’s youth group. “It wasn’t until I went to Echo that I started to feel like I was accepted. It was probably the first time I felt really welcomed by a bunch of people. As I made more friends there, I grew in confidence in who I am, and in the way that God made me.”
In 10th grade Kagen joined the Catalyst team, Echo’s student leaders, which he saw as a chance to make younger kids feel welcome. A few years after he graduated, Kagen returned to Echo as an adult volunteer. “As a volunteer, I enjoy any moment where I get to encourage somebody about their value or some really solid truth about what God says about them.”
Kagen also wanted to create this kind of environment for young adults. “I really wanted a group for young adults because I know how important it is for everyone to be in community. A few of us were hoping to have a group for 20s and 30s at Woodland and we were able to do that in 2020. Now I volunteer on the Vessels leadership team where I try to be intentional about relationships. As leaders, we also help provide food for meals and that’s a good time, especially if it’s taco night. I always look forward to seeing everybody.”
Vessels meets every other week for worship, prayer and a meal together, but they also connect outside those Monday meetings. “During the weeks when we don’t meet, we often end up planning different hangouts. I find that it just happens organically; Vessels just helps give a starting point for building community.”
Vessels also has small groups to join. “We have a fun socializing group for hanging out, playing games or having good conversations with friends. We also have a reflective art group, and right now I’m helping with the theology group, which is a space to have conversations about faith and learn from each other. Lately, I’ve been trying to talk about how important it is to spend time with God in whatever way that looks like. Also, just being in a reflective mindset, like, ‘God, I’m listening to you. I’m just going to rest in your presence and enjoy that I’m with you.’”
No matter what the group is doing, Kagen prioritizes helping people belong. “I know what it’s like to feel like an outcast and what it’s like to feel like I can fit in with a group. I feel like God’s given me a heart for welcoming other people and trying my best to be a good listener and be supportive of people. I like telling people how Jesus loves them and that they have so much value. It’s so important not only to be able to love others, but also to love yourself.”
Thank you, Kagen, for using your own personal journey to make Vessels a space of acceptance and belonging!
Find out more about Vessels here.
